So I have researched and have seen fire extinguisher systems for cars, (mostly Halon), but I was thinking of making my own system with CO2. For some background CO2 is good for electrical, Flammable gases, and Liquids. (correct if I'm wrong in areas. Lastly CO2 is heavier than air so I'll mount the discharge nozzles to the underside of the hood. If anything at all I'll have a portable ABC extinguisher while the CO2 might just calm down the flames till I can do something otherwise. Anyone done something of the same or have suggestions?

Sounds like a good concept...except for one thing...CO2 when discharged forms ice crystals. If you notice CO2 extinguishers have wide nozzle openings, this is so the ice crystals dont build up and glog the discharge. I believe in your system as discribed you would freeze up your lines before it even got to the engine compartment or even if it did make it to the engine compartment your nozzles under the hood would glog. Sorry to bust your bubble but I dont see it working.

One great, and proven several times over, thing to do with a CO2 extinguisher after a long trail ride ....take a 12 pack of warm beer...place them in a cooler ...discharge the entire CO2 extinguisher into the cooler and cover it ...wait 1 minute .....ICE COLD BEER

I like the Purple K unit linked earlier. Are they difficult to get refilled/recharged? What can I expect to pay for a Purple K recharge?

Purple K extinguishers are not cheap..in most cases the intial cost is very close to double that of an ABC dry chem. As far as refill...first contact your local fire prevention services (not the fire dept.) they are easy to find in the yellow pages. Call and ask them if they can recharge them (some companies dont deal with purple K ) and if they do how much is it. There is no set price on recharging all companies set there own rates. I would imagine if you are not in a well industrialized area the cost of recharging a Purple K extinguisher would be much higher than if you lived in one....basic supply and demand economics.

__________________
[COLOR="Blue"]America could not have won World War II without the Jeep."General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1946

的 have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman" Chief Edward F. Croker FDNY (1899-1911)

Firefighting..The only profession where you can break into someones home, flood it, rip out the walls, bust out windows, cut holes in the roof, and they THANK YOU for your service[/COLOR]

Great Information guys! Very educational! Now I'm off to find some 5 pounders for my jeep and maybe a 10 pounder for my mobile home. The one that came from the factory on the MH is a 2.5 with plastic parts. Time to upgrade!

Thank you to the professional fire fighters for their service and the info that they give us in this forum!

Purple K extinguishers are not cheap..in most cases the intial cost is very close to double that of an ABC dry chem. As far as refill...first contact your local fire prevention services (not the fire dept.) they are easy to find in the yellow pages. Call and ask them if they can recharge them (some companies dont deal with purple K ) and if they do how much is it. There is no set price on recharging all companies set there own rates. I would imagine if you are not in a well industrialized area the cost of recharging a Purple K extinguisher would be much higher than if you lived in one....basic supply and demand economics.

So you don't even have a ballpark figure? I would figure there is no set price.

Much like a scuba tank fill, you could expect to pay more for a fill depending on where you live, but I could still tell you it would be around $5-10.

So you don't even have a ballpark figure? I would figure there is no set price.

Much like a scuba tank fill, you could expect to pay more for a fill depending on where you live, but I could still tell you it would be around $5-10.

I am not in the business of recharging extinguishers..and on a side note most extinguishers in the fire service are contracted (x dollars a year if we need 3 recharged or 50) Some fire depts recharge there own extinguishers. Most fire depts also dont carry Purple K extinguishers on the trucks. However I will make a few calls for you and get a ballpark figure. I will post this as soon as I can obtain that info. Sorry but I just dont have that figure as common knowledge.

__________________
[COLOR="Blue"]America could not have won World War II without the Jeep."General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1946

的 have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman" Chief Edward F. Croker FDNY (1899-1911)

Firefighting..The only profession where you can break into someones home, flood it, rip out the walls, bust out windows, cut holes in the roof, and they THANK YOU for your service[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=JohnnyYZ;5838214]Oh ya and here's what a Heavy Duty Vehicle Bracket looks like. These will not break, not like the flimbsy ones that break when you take the extinguisher out. Plus you can put a lock on it when the tops off when your not around the Jeep./QUOTE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kercher

Jerry, Where did you get that clamp mount? I haven't been able to find anything like it.

I agree, a good fire extinguisher is an obsolute necessity on the trail, but preventative care goes a long way too. Things like a CLEAN engine bay, free from oil leaks, oil residue, etc would really do wonders to prevent a small fire from getting out of hand quickly. After seeing that video, the first thing I did was clean up the residual oil from an intake leak.

What else is out there for PREVENTATIVE care, minimizing the risk of a fire getting out of control?

Quote:

Originally Posted by obxresq

Its been my experience that once you have a fire hot enough to melt your plastic snorkle you will need to rebuild the engine or get a new one.

1) The melted plastic is going to drip into your intake manifold and possibly the combustion chamber as well.

2) Most engine compartment fires will reach temp. of 900 degrees very rapidly. This is hot enough to warp the heads, damage seals, along with the possiblity of warping rings on the pistons. Remember your engines normal operational temp is around 210 to 220 degrees now it has been exposed to almost 4 times that amout of heat.

3) All your wiring will need to be replaced. Not just replacing the burnt part but the whole wire. Wire transfers heat ,like electricity, their might be little damage to the wire past the fire side but the plug at the other end might be fried.

Be safe in all aspects go with an ABC 10 lbs or 2-5lbs. Two 5lbs might be easier to find places for in a Jeep and if you only need 5lbs to put out the fire your still good with another 5 lbs waiting to back it up.

I work in the film biz and am given perfectly good 5 & 10 lb extinguishers all the time when the production companies make them be replaced off the generators every 4 months (replacement time overkill I know, but better for me!). So I have a crap load of 5 & 10 lb'ers kicking around. I carry them in the Jeep with heavy duty velcro straps on each rollbar behind each seat. 2 5lb'ers for short drives around town and short trails to campsites and 2 10 lb'ers when actually off-roading for real. Also one 2.5 lb'er mounted to one of my 20mm ammo boxes simply for BBQ'ing and campfires. When camping, it's ALWAYS at hand and not in the mount!

I've looked high and low and called everybody that deals with anything remotely fire extinguisher based and NO-ONE has the lockable brackets (sold alone without an extinguisher) shown above. That's the only reason I velcro the heck out of them. Sure, they're not locked when the hardtop's off, but their cheaper to replace than a tron top of something like that.

As for carrying 2 of either the 5 or 10 lb. ones? I'm also of the belief that if one is enough, at least you have a spare. But if two of either size are needed, at least you have em' with you!

Mine are ABC's and my thought on the "bad for wiring" notion? I'd rather have to replace all my wiring than replacing the whole dang Jeep! If I find something better than any of the great ideas mentioned here, I'll be sure to post it!

Great thread! Thanks for all the helpful info.!

I'm sure you'll all agree on a final thought: Better safe than sorry!

P.S. - If anyone does know where I can buy 5 and/or 10 lb lockable brackets like the one shown above, please PM Me?

[/QUOTE]Mine are ABC's and my thought on the "bad for wiring" notion? I'd rather have to replace all my wiring than replacing the whole dang Jeep! If I find something better than any of the great ideas mentioned here, I'll be sure to post it!

Great thread! Thanks for all the helpful info.!

I'm sure you'll all agree on a final thought: Better safe than sorry!

P.S. - If anyone does know where I can buy 5 and/or 10 lb lockable brackets like the one shown above, please PM Me?[/QUOTE]

An extinguisher rated for "A" uses something like 2A or 5A etc.
Each number value is equivalent to 1.25 gallons of water. So a 2.5 gallon water can extinguisher is, you guessed it, rated at 2A. So, your everyday 5lb extinguisher is normally rated 3A, or equivalent to 3.75 gallons of water. OK, covered that pretty easy stuff, just remember 1.25=1 when we are talking about class A fire extinguishers.

Now, the B rating is also some number, 20, 40 whatever.
This number is the square footage of a 2 inch deep pool of flammable liquid that a novice user can extinguish. Note: novice user, a skilled fireman could double that rating. Your everyday 5lb extinguisher with an ABC rating normally is rated for 40B, or 40 square feet of liquid flameage.

When the extinguisher is rated "C' is simply means the extinguishing agent is non-conductive and won't get you zapped. (Water doesn't get a C rating)

Then you get into D which is pretty complex, considering each agent is usually only rated for 1 or 2 different metals because the metal burns differently and some compounds just aren't effective on some metals.

Class K is kitchen, which doesn't really deal with Jeeps, unless you have a fry-o-lator out back.